Fellowship, Meet Sigma Nu
by Felix Canis
Summary: Not your typical reincarnation fic...names are hard to track. involves slash romance, het romance, anonymous letters, and frat parties...


"Please?"  
  
"No."  
  
"But I need you!"  
  
"No."  
  
"Pleeeeeeease?"  
  
"I told you. My answer is no."  
  
"How about at the class' halfway break?"  
  
"No."  
  
"Why not?"  
  
"Shaddup! I'm trying to listen."  
  
"Mister Corwin, is there anything I can help you with?" Mr. Guthrie, the Professor, asked the dark-haired boy sitting in the back row.  
  
Alex Corwin gritted his teeth and looked at William Reynolds, who was grinning sheepishly next to him.  
  
"No, sir." He said firmly.  
  
"Good. Then I suggest you get out your notes and tell me, please, what the two most common uses for dihydrogen monoxide were?"  
  
"Ummm. I don't know, sir."  
  
"And, can you tell me, when is the test?"  
  
"Monday," Alex mumbled.  
  
"What?" The Professor raised his voice.  
  
"MONDAY!" Alex yelled.  
  
"Good. Now then, kindly gather your books and leave my classroom. And if you don't get passing marks on my test tomorrow, you will be invited to leave my class permanently."  
  
Alex gritted his teeth, glaring at William as he gathered his books and left.  
  
~*~  
  
It had been his last class on a Friday afternoon. Why couldn't it have just run smoothly? Now he was trapped in the walls of Sigma Nu, his fraternity, without anyone to meet or anything to do, and the grueling task of studying for the science test on Monday ahead of him.  
  
Sigma Nu had a reputation of being somewhat.off. Or at least the residents of the fourth floor did. Next to the room that Alex and William shared resided Linus Rigby, a very plain-looking man, a year above them with the rank of Sophomore. Across from him lived Kaden Reeves, a senior, who was dark-haired and tan. Next to his room, directly across from Alex's room, was Estelle Bixby, also a senior, who possessed a very kind, protecting nature. Next to him resided Gideon Whitby. Mr. Whitby was the building administrator and was a very kind, grey-haired man with a merry twinkle in his trustworthy blue eyes.  
  
Alex and William were the only ones in the whole house who shared a room, and this was not due to lack of options; just next to theirs was an empty room. It was also not because of lack of funding. Alex was fairly wealthy.not overly rich, but wealthy -enough to be able to comfortably afford off-campus housing. William could have afforded fraternity life solo, but both men preferred to live with each other. They had been together since eighth grade, and neither had ever questioned the status of the relationship. It was what it was; there was no name for what they had. They were certainly romantic, finding peaceful refuge in each other's arms when nightmares plagued them, bonded by a love which was stronger than any obstacles they had encountered. When they were freshmen in High School, William's parents, who had not found the thought that their only son was gay to be a comforting thought, had separated them. His aunt, who was very supportive of the boys' relationship, had raised Alex, and was always good for advice. When they had been separated, she had given him advice that he had always remembered; "Hang in there, Alex. If you can overcome this obstacle, it will prove the worth of your love."  
  
The boys had thus kept their love on the back burner. The day William turned eighteen, March Twenty-first, he moved in with Alex. He finished out his senior year living there and then the boys enrolled together in Oregon State University. Alex's Aunt Delilah had left town the day Alex turned eighteen, leaving everything to him with the exception of a few oddments. This included her spacious three-bedroom home, red sports car, and a large sum of money. She also left behind a small package, with instructions not to open it until he knew it was time.  
  
Aunt Delilah was very that; she was odd to the extreme. She often would leave during the night, leaving emergency money on the table, and not come back for several days. Rumors flew all over high school about these mysterious disappearances, and Alex was always regarded with a certain caution, even by some teachers. Now that she had disappeared, Alex would occasionally get a postcard from some exotic place, or an email from an anonymous address that was addressed from her. Alex had sold the house, put all of his money in an account to earn interest, sold or gave away most of his possessions, and moved into a small apartment with William until they moved into Sigma Nu.  
  
Alex found himself once more immersed in his favorite book, The Hobbit, until he heard a knock on the door. He put in his bookmark and walked over to open the door. Mr. Whitby stood there, with an envelope in his hand. He wordlessly gave it to Alex and walked away.  
  
Alex, mystified, closed the door and sat down. He opened the envelope, which had no writing on the outside, and opened the paper that was there. It looked like an email.  
  
To: ALEX CORWIN From: AN ANONYMOUS BENEFACTOR Subject: TRUST THIS  
  
Alex-  
  
I cannot tell you who I am. I can only tell you that you will soon find yourself in danger, and in situations that you will not understand. But if you want to safely navigate these situations, please heed the following advice:  
  
-There are nine transfer students from the University of Oregon that are arriving this Saturday. They will be in your chemistry class. They will not be very talkative and will dress in dark colors. DO NOT BE ALONE WITH THEM.  
  
-Enroll in Carmine Worchester's workshop, "The merry making of rhyme and prose", next term. Mr. Worchester will be a useful ally, as will Eldora Worchester.  
  
-Trust Estelle Bixby, Gideon Whitby, and Marie Chadwick. By wary of Mark Guthrie.  
  
It will soon be time to open the box your aunt left you, but the time is not quite ripe. You will know. Enclosed is a gift certificate for the local bookstore, Grass Roots. Go there and buy the Lord of the Rings, by JRR Tolkien. Be familiar with it, along with The Hobbit.  
  
You've always got love; they can't strip you of that.  
  
Alex read over the letter several times. Who could this benefactor be? What danger was he in? Who was the 'they' mentioned in the last sentence? He wondered if he should heed the advice. He probably wouldn't associate with the nine strangers anyway.normally he didn't associate with people like that, from their description. As for that workshop, he didn't know. What harm could it do, though? He hadn't really tried writing; it might be an interesting experience anyway. He already knew to trust Estelle and Mr. Whitby, he already counted them among his best friends. He didn't really know Marie Chadwick that well, even though he was in one of her classes. He also knew to be wary of Mr. Guthrie.that man had it in for him, big time.  
  
Being familiar with The Hobbit was no problem. He had read it several times, and loved it. As for Lord of the Rings, he didn't know. Wasn't it a really long trilogy? Will had said that it was about a thousand pages. He didn't know how the stranger expected him to manage that and college and Mr. Worchester's workshop.  
  
Just then, Will walked in sheepishly.  
  
"Sorry," he mumbled.  
  
"No problem," Alex said. "But you have to make it up to me," he added, grinning evilly and raising an eyebrow.  
  
"Oh, twist my arm." Will said, waltzing over to where Alex lay flopped out on the bed. He flopped down next to him, wrapping an arm around the smaller boy's waist.  
  
"M'kay," Alex responded in just the way Will wanted him to, twisting around in Will's embrace to face him before kissing him deeply and twining their bodies together. Alex found himself suddenly feeling tired, and he yawned thickly, closed his eyes, and drifted off.  
  
~*~  
  
She stood over his frightened, prostrate form, and raised her sword. He didn't feel as though he could survive that blow.  
  
"NO!" he heard the man call out. He and the other ran towards her and struck her down. The other eight crowded around and overwhelmed them soon enough, though, and he felt the somehow familiar feeling of the freezing cold sword connecting with his fever-ridden flesh, searing with cold and heat at the same time. He cried out and knew no more.  
  
~*~  
  
Alex was breathing heavily when he woke up. "Oh, shit." he said. "Will. Will." And then the taller boy was at his side immediately, without hesitation. "Oh, Will. Thank you."  
  
"Bad dream?"  
  
"Terrible."  
  
"Oh, Alex.you've got to stop that."  
  
"I would if I could."  
  
"Well, no need to worry. I'm here, and I won't let them get you."  
  
"Oh, Will."  
  
"Alex?"  
  
"Hmm?"  
  
"I love you."  
  
"Damn straight.you'd better!"  
  
"Oh good, there's the Alex I know."  
  
"What time is it?"  
  
Will checked his watch. "Almost six o'clock. You've been out for a couple of hours."  
  
"You could have left."  
  
"Nah.I wanted to be with you.watch you sleep. And the party doesn't start until seven, anyway."  
  
Alex suddenly remembered the letter, and realized that there was, as a matter of fact, a party going on tonight in the main downstairs gathering hall of Sigma Nu.  
  
"Hey..d'you wanna go to that?"  
  
"Well, sure.why so eager?"  
  
"I want to talk to Whitby about something."  
  
"Oh.think he'll be there?"  
  
"Well, he's cool, and he kind of has to be there, doesn't he?"  
  
"I guess so," Will shrugged. Alex sighed, and snuggled deeper into the warm arms that held him.  
  
"I love you," William whispered, and kissed Alex's forehead. "And I'll stay with you until the bitter end."  
  
~*~  
  
Ellette turned back to Sonja and Sachi, who were lagging behind.  
  
"Do you want to be late? They were nice enough to finally invite us to one of their parties.the least we can do is be on time."  
  
She turned back and continued her conversation with Tinuviel.  
  
"So, what did he say?"  
  
"Well.he said that he had something coming up. Something big."  
  
"What?"  
  
"He wouldn't tell me. But I think it's pretty important. He says he may be doing a 'fair bit of traveling' sometime soon, but he wouldn't say much else."  
  
"Do you think he'll.?"  
  
"Propose? I don't know. Maybe."  
  
"Well, he really loves you, doesn't he?"  
  
Tinuviel giggled a bit. "Yeah, he does."  
  
"What would you say if he asked you?"  
  
"Definitely yes."  
  
They had then arrived at Sigma Nu, where there was a small party going on. When they walked inside, they were greeted by Estelle Bixby, who invited the four in to sit down while there was still room to do so. It was about five until seven, and soon nearly the rest of the house would be coming down to join them.  
  
~*~  
  
When Will found out about the letter, he did not seem all that surprised. He agreed to go along with Alex to talk to Mr. Whitby about it.  
  
~*~  
  
"Whitby," Alex said, knocking on the man's door, "I know you're in there."  
  
"Fine, Fine." Soon the door opened a crack, and Gideon Whitby's face appeared.  
  
"About-" Alex started, but before he could finish, the door opened all the way and they were pulled inside.  
  
"Alex, you don't have much time. You're going to have to leave soon- sooner than we ever had expected."  
  
"What?" Alex asked.  
  
"Okay.have you read Lord of the Rings?"  
  
"No.But what's that-"  
  
"Alex, there's no time. What about the Hobbit, have you read that?"  
  
"Yes," Alex said, feeling very confused indeed.  
  
"Alright.shit, you're not going to believe this, but don't talk right now, just listen. The Hobbit is not just a story, and neither is Lord of the Rings. They really happened. We don't have time for the history now, you can be filled in later. But you are the reincarnation of Frodo Baggins."  
  
"Frodo?"  
  
"Yes, Bilbo's nephew and heir. You know the Ring that Bilbo gets from Gollum?"  
  
"Yes.But what does that have to do with anything?"  
  
"Well, that Ring was made by Sauron, an evil spirit who wanted to control Middle Earth. Frodo later destroyed it, with the help of eight others. Now the Ring is back, and many of the people from Middle Earth have been reincarnated. You'd be surprised how many of them you know. William here is Sam, your companion. You must leave- tonight." 


End file.
